Ice tray apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment an ice tray is manufactured using a material having higher thermal conductivity, hardness, and elongation than those of aluminum. A time or duration to complete making the ice may be shortened. The material can include copper alloy. The material can have an antibiotic effect.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2015-0086754, filed on Jun. 18, 2015, the disclosureof which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an ice tray, an ice machine for arefrigerator, and a method for manufacturing an ice tray.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An ice tray is a device that is used to generate ice in a refrigerator.The ice tray includes a plurality of spaces that can contain water. Whenthe ice tray containing water is stored in a freezer compartment, coldair in the freezing compartment exchanges heat with the ice tray, andthe water in the ice tray is phase-changed to ice. Conventional, icetrays have been manufactured using aluminum.

Traditionally, many refrigerators are top-mount-type refrigeratorshaving a freezing compartment positioned at an upper side or portion ofthe refrigerator and a refrigerating compartment positioned at the lowerside or portion of the refrigerator. There are also commerciallyavailable bottom-freeze-type refrigerators. Bottom-freeze-typerefrigerators can enhance user convenience in which a morefrequently-used refrigerating compartment is positioned at an upperportion of the refrigerator and a less frequently used freezingcompartment is positioned at a lower portion of the refrigerator. Thisprovides an advantage in that a user can conveniently use therefrigerating compartment. However, the bottom-freeze-type refrigerators(in which the freezing compartment is positioned at the lower portion orside) can pose an inconvenience when a user does access the freezingcompartment, in that a user typically has to bend at the waist to openthe freezing compartment door (e.g., to take out pieces of ice, food,etc.).

Traditional attempts at solving the above problem in the bottom freezetype refrigerators have included an ice dispenser installed in therefrigerating compartment or refrigerating compartment door in someimplementations. In this approach, the refrigerating compartment door orthe inside of the refrigerating compartment may be provided with an icemaker which generates ice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, an ice tray is manufactured using a material havinghigher thermal conductivity, hardness, and elongation than those ofaluminum. A time or duration to complete process of making ice may beshortened. The material can include copper alloy. The material can havean antibiotic effect.

In one embodiment, an ice tray comprises: a tray main body including amaterial having higher thermal conductivity, hardness, and elongationthan aluminum; and a plurality of partitions included in the tray mainbody and configured to partition the inner space into a plurality offormation spaces. The tray main body may have an inner space configuredto hold water and an upper surface of the tray main body may be open.The material can be a copper alloy. The material can be brass and thebrass can have an antibacterial effect. The copper alloy can have athermal conductivity of approximately 0.94 (cal/cm²/sec/° C.). The traymain body can be thinner than another tray main body made of aluminum.Cooling ribs that increase an area configured to contact cold air can beformed on a bottom portion of the tray main body. A heater can becoupled to a bottom portion of the tray main body, the heater isoperable to transfer heat to the tray main body and ease ice removalfrom the plurality of formation spaces. A surface of the ice tray can becoated.

In one exemplary implementation a method for manufacturing an ice traycomprises: injecting a copper alloy material in a melted state into amold for forming the ice tray provided with a plurality of formationspaces in which an upper surface is open; cooling the mold into whichthe copper alloy material is injected; and separating the ice tray fromthe mold. The copper alloy material can be brass. A surface of the icetray that is separated from the mold can be coated. The copper alloymaterial in a melted state can become solid through the cooling of themold.

In one embodiment, an ice machine for a refrigerator comprises: a copperalloy ice tray which receives cold air and generates ice; an iceseparation member which drops the ice that is generated in the ice tray;and an ice bucket arranged on a lower side of the ice tray so as tocontain the ice that is dropped from the ice tray.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention will become apparentfrom the following description of embodiments given in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice tray according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a horizontal cross-section of the ice trayof FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a bottom surface of the ice tray of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an ice machine for arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an ice machinecombined in a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for manufacturing an icetray according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments,examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whilethe invention will be described in conjunction with the preferredembodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limitthe invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention isintended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which maybe included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined bythe appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed descriptionof the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.However, it will be obvious to one ordinarily skilled in the art thatthe present invention may be practiced without these specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarilyobscure aspects of the current invention.

Hereinafter, constructions and actions according to embodiments of thepresent invention will be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In describing the embodiments of the presentinvention, a detailed description of known constructions or functionsmay be omitted if such description may make the nature of the presentinvention unnecessarily vague.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an ice tray 100 according toone embodiment. Ice tray 100 includes a tray main body 110 and aplurality of partitions 120 formed in the tray main body 110. The traymain body 110 has an inner space of which an upper surface is opened toallow water to flow into the inner space and ice can to be ejected. Theplurality of partitions 120 are configured to partition the inner spaceinto a plurality of formation spaces. The formation spaces may havevarious shapes according to the desired shape of the ice to begenerated. The number of formation spaces may also vary.

In one embodiment, an inner space of the tray main body 110 includes astructure that is surrounded by a bottom portion of the tray main body110 and outer walls 130, 140, 150, and 160 that are formed along theedges or outer circumference of the bottom portion. The inner space mayinclude and be partitioned by the plurality of partitions 120. If theice tray 100 is sufficiently cooled when water is in the plurality offormation spaces, the water is frozen to generate ice. In one exemplaryimplementation, the ice tray 100 serves as a kind of heat exchanger.

In one embodiment, the tray main body 110 and the plurality ofpartitions that are formed in the tray main body 110 may be made of acopper alloy material. Aluminum has thermal conductivity of 0.53(cal/cm²/sec/° C.), and copper has thermal conductivity of 0.94(cal/cm²/sec/° C.). Accordingly, when ice tray 100 is manufactured witha copper alloy material instead of aluminum, thermal conductivity of theice tray made with copper alloy is greater than an ice tray made withaluminum. In one embodiment, the ice tray 100 is manufactured with amaterial having a relatively high thermal conductivity and the heatexchange rate between the water in the ice tray 100 and cold air isgreater than traditional approaches. Accordingly, ice can be generatedmore promptly and the amount of ice that can be generated per unit timecan be increased.

In one embodiment, the tray main body 110 and the plurality ofpartitions that are formed in the tray main body 110 may be made ofbrass that is a copper alloy material. Brass is an alloy that is made byadding zinc to copper. Brass is a material which is usually consideredto have a beautiful color, is relatively easily cast in comparison topure copper, and has relatively high hardness and elongation compared toaluminum.

In one exemplary implementation, the tray main body 110 and theplurality of partitions 120 are manufactured with brass and thethickness of a bottom portion of the tray main body 110 becomesapproximately half in comparison to a traditional aluminum tray. As thethickness of the bottom portion of the ice tray becomes thinner, theheat exchange rate or transferring speed with cold air increases. Thus,the heat exchange rate of the ice tray 100 that is manufactured withbrass is considered better in comparison to the heat exchange rate of atraditional ice tray manufactured with aluminum.

The brass material can have an antibiotic effect, and if the ice tray100 is manufactured with brass, the propagation of germs in the ice thatis generated in the ice tray 100 can be reduced or prevented compared totraditional aluminum ice trays.

Cooling ribs 180 may be formed on the bottom portion of the tray mainbody 110. The cooling ribs increase contact area with the cold air. Asillustrated in FIG. 2, the cooling ribs 180 widen or increase the areawith which cold air comes in contact with the bottom portion of the traymain body 110. By widening or increasing the area in which the cold aircomes in contact with the tray main body 110 through the cooling ribs180, a loss of cold air can be reduced to heighten energy efficiency.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in the case where the cold air isguided in direction along the bottom portion of the tray main body 110(e.g., illustrated by the arrow, etc.), the area in which the movingcold air comes in contact with the tray main body 110 is expanded orincreased by the cooling ribs 180, and thus the loss of cold air can bereduced.

A heater 170 may be coupled to the bottom portion of the tray main body110. The heater 170 can transfer heat so that the ice formed in theplurality of formation spaces is more easily removed from the formationspaces in the tray main body. As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, theheater 170 may be a heating line arranged on the bottom portion of thetray main body 110. It is appreciated the heater 170 may have othervarious structures and shapes. If the tray main body 110 is heatedthrough the heater 170 while ice is in the ice tray 100, the surface ofthe ice is melted, and thus the ice can be easily separated from theplurality of formation spaces.

The surface of the ice tray 100 may be coated. For example, the surfaceof the ice tray 100 may be coated by a coating technique, such as Tefloncoating, silicon coating, epoxy coating and so on. The whole surface ora part of the surface of the ice tray 100 may be coated.

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an ice machine 300for a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.The ice machine may be installed in the food storage space in therefrigerator or at the door. Ice machine 200 may include the ice tray100 which receives cold air and generates ice, an ice separation member230 which drops the ice that is generated in the ice tray 100, and anice bucket 320 arranged on the lower side of the ice tray 100 so as tocatch or contain the ice that is dropped from the ice tray 100.

In one embodiment, the ice machine 200 may receive the cold air that isgenerated from a cooling portion (not illustrated) included in the mainbody of the refrigerator, and the ice tray 100 may generate the ice. Theice tray 100 may receive water from a water supply pipe (notillustrated). The ice tray 100 may be made of a copper alloy material.The ice tray may be made of brass that is a copper alloy material. It isappreciated various characteristics or features can be obtained orachieved when the ice tray 100 is made of brass (e.g., thinner thanaluminum, better thermal transfer than aluminum, more appealingappearance, etc.).

The cold air may be supplied to the ice tray 100 through a cold airguide portion 220. Specifically, the cold air guide portion 220 mayguide the flow of the cold air so that the cold air that is suppliedfrom a cooling portion moves along the bottom surface of the ice tray100. When the cold air is supplied through the cold air guide portion220, the cold air exchanges heat with the ice tray 100, and thus thewater that is contained in the ice tray 100 is phase-changed to ice. Thecold air guide portion 220 may include a first cold air guide member 221that extends from an upper surface of a cold air discharge duct and asecond cold air guide member 222 that extends from a lower surface ofthe cold air discharge duct.

The ice that is generated in the ice tray 100 may be dropped down by theice separation member 230. The ice separation member 230 may include arotating member that ca rotate the ice tray 100 and cause the ice thatis generated in the ice tray 100 to drop. Specifically, an upper surfaceof the ice tray 100 may be rotated downward through rotation of arotating shaft 231, and if the ice tray 100 is rotated over apredetermined angle, it is twisted through an interference of apredetermined interference member (not illustrated). The ice from theice tray 100 may be dropped down by the twisting. The ice tray 100 maybe configured to be rotated along the rotating shaft 231. The rotatingshaft 231 can be seated on rotating shaft seat grooves 151 and 161 thatare formed on a front portion 150 and a rear portion 160 of the ice tray100. The rotating shaft 231 may be rotated by a motor 232 in a rotatingshaft motor housing 233. In another embodiment, a plurality of ejectors(not illustrated) may be provided along the length direction of therotating shaft 231, and through rotation of the ejectors, the ice can beseparated from the ice tray 100 in a state where the ice tray 100 is notrotated.

The ice bucket 320 that catches and contains the ice that is droppedfrom the ice tray 100 may be arranged on the lower side of the ice tray100. When the ice that is generated in the ice tray 100 is dropped downby the ice separation member 230, the ice may be contained in the icebucket 320.

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an ice machineincluded in a refrigerator according to one embodiment.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, an ice machine for a refrigerator according toone embodiment may include an auger 410 and an auger motor 420. Theauger 410 may be configured to transport the ice that is accommodated inthe ice bucket 320 toward a discharge portion 600. The auger 410 may bea rotating member having screw or spiral-shaped wings, and is rotated bythe auger motor 420. The auger 410 is included in the ice bucket 320,and the ice accumulated in the ice bucket 320 may be put between thewings of the auger 410 and may be transported toward the dischargeportion 600. The auger motor 420 may be included in the auger motorhousing 430.

The discharge portion 600 may be connected to a dispenser (notillustrated) included in the refrigerator door, and the ice that istransported by the auger 410 may be supplied to a user through thedispenser in accordance with user's selection. Although not illustrated,a cutting member that can cut the ice may be provided in the dischargeportion 600. The ice can be cut into pieces or cubes of a predeterminedsize.

In the ice machine 200, cold air that is generated through a compressor,a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator may be supplied intoa cooling space 105, and may freeze the water contained in the ice tray100. Ice tray 100 can be included in the cooling space 105. The cold airguide portion 220 may be coupled to and extend from the discharge duct310. The cold air that is discharged from the discharge duct 310 maymove along the cold air guide portion 220.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the ice machine 200 may be included inside therefrigerator main body 10. For example, the ice machine 200 may beinstalled in the refrigerating compartment. In one embodiment, the icemachine 200 is installed in the refrigerating compartment and the coldair of the freezing compartment may move through a cold air supply pipe500. The cold air supply pipe 500 can be arranged on a wall surface onthe inside of the refrigerating compartment and may be coupled to theice machine 200 installed in the refrigerating compartment. In oneexemplary implementation, the supplied cold air may be guided throughthe cold air guide portion 220 and may move along the bottom surface ofthe ice tray 100.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for manufacturingan ice tray in accordance with one embodiment.

The method for manufacturing an ice tray 100 according include injectinga copper alloy material in a melted state into a mold (S100), coolingthe mold (S200), and separating the ice tray from the mold (S300).

The copper alloy material in a melted state may be injected (S100) intothe mold for forming the ice tray 100 provided with a plurality offormation spaces, in which an upper surface is open. The copper alloymaterial may be brass.

The mold into which the copper alloy material in a melted state isinjected may be cooled by a variety of techniques (e.g., naturallycooled, cooled through supply of the cold air, etc.).

In separating the ice tray from the mold (S300), the ice tray 100 thatis formed through solidification of the copper alloy material isseparated from the mold.

The method for manufacturing an ice tray 100 may also include coating asurface of the ice tray that is separated from the mold (S400). Thesurface of the ice tray 100 may be coated by a variety of coatingtechniques (e.g., such as Teflon coating, silicon coating, epoxycoating, etc.). The whole surface or a part of the surface of the icetray 100 may be coated.

In one embodiment, an ice tray is manufactured using a copper alloymaterial having higher thermal conductivity, hardness, and elongationthan those of aluminum. The copper alloy material can have an antibioticeffect. In one exemplary implementation, an ice machine for arefrigerator includes such an ice tray. In addition, since the copperalloy material has high elongation, a thinner ice tray can be madecompared to a traditional aluminum ice tray. Since the ice tray can havea reduced thickness and high thermal conductivity, the time or durationto make ice can be shortened and the amount of ice made can beincreased.

Even if the raw material cost of copper alloy is more expensive than asimilar amount of aluminum, the material cost of the ice tray is notnecessarily greatly increased since the copper alloy ice trays can bethinner than typical aluminum ice trays. The amount of copper alloy usedto make the relatively thin ice tray can be significantly less than theamount of aluminum typically used to make a relatively thick ice tray.In addition, various beneficial marketing or advertising aspects can beobtained with respect to an antibiotic brass ice tray.

While the present invention has been described with respect to thepreferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. Itwill be understood that a person having ordinary skill in the art towhich the present invention pertains may substitute and changecomponents without limitation and these substitutions and changes alsoare included in the scope of the present invention.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical application,to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize theinvention and various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scopeof the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and theirequivalents. The listing of steps within method claims do not imply anyparticular order to performing the steps, unless explicitly stated inthe claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An ice tray comprising: a tray main bodyincluding a material having higher thermal conductivity, hardness, andelongation than aluminum, the tray main body having an inner spaceconfigured to hold water, an upper surface of the tray main body beingopen; and a plurality of partitions included in the tray main body andconfigured to partition the inner space into a plurality of formationspaces.
 2. The ice tray of claim 1, wherein the material is a copperalloy.
 3. The ice tray of claim 1, wherein the material is brass.
 4. Theice tray of claim 1, wherein the brass material has an antibacterialeffect.
 5. The ice tray of claim 1, wherein the tray main body isthinner than another tray main body made of aluminum.
 6. The ice tray ofclaim 1, wherein the copper alloy has thermal conductivity ofapproximately 0.94 (cal/cm²/sec/° C.).
 7. The ice tray of claim 1,wherein cooling ribs that increase an area configured to contact coldair are formed on a bottom portion of the tray main body.
 8. The icetray of claim 1, wherein a heater is coupled to a bottom portion of thetray main body, the heater is operable to transfer heat so as to makeice to ease ice removal from the plurality of formation spaces.
 9. Theice tray of claim 1, wherein a surface of the ice tray is coated.
 10. Amethod for manufacturing an ice tray, comprising: injecting a copperalloy material in a melted state into a mold for forming the ice trayprovided with a plurality of formation spaces in which an upper surfaceis open; cooling the mold into which the copper alloy material in themelted state is injected; and separating the ice tray from the mold. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the copper alloy material is brass. 12.The method of claim 10, further comprising coating a surface of the icetray that is separated from the mold.
 13. The method of claim 10,wherein the copper alloy material in a melted state becomes solidthrough the cooling of the mold.
 14. An ice machine for a refrigerator,comprising: a copper alloy ice tray which receives cold air andgenerates ice; an ice separation member which drops the ice that isgenerated in the ice tray; and an ice bucket arranged on a lower side ofthe ice tray so as to contain the ice that is dropped from the ice tray.15. The ice tray of claim 15, wherein the copper alloy is brass.
 16. Theice tray of claim 15, wherein the brass material has an antibacterialeffect.
 17. The ice tray of claim 15, wherein the tray main body isthinner than another tray main body made of aluminum.
 18. The ice trayof claim 15, wherein cooling ribs that increase an area configured tocontact cold air are formed on a bottom portion of the tray main body.19. The ice tray of claim 15, wherein a heater is coupled to a bottomportion of the tray main body, the heater is operable to transfers heatso as to make ice to ease ice removal from the plurality of formationspaces.
 20. The ice tray of claim 15, wherein a surface of the ice trayis coated.